This veggie burger is inspired by the Indian dish pakora, vegetables dipped in a batter made with chickpea flour and then fried. You can pan-fry these burgers, but deep frying them will make them crisper on the outside. Recipe by Paul Hargrove, chef at Trace restaurant in the W Hotel in Austin.
Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped potatoes
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
3/4 cup chickpea flour
1 whole egg
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 teaspoon tamarind powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Peanut oil for frying
Directions
Place the vegetables in a food processor and pulse until shredded.
(Alternatively, you could grate the vegetables by hand from their whole state, but a food processor will be faster.) Using paper towels or a non-terrycloth dish towel, squeeze out as much water as possible from the vegetables.
In a large bowl, mix together the vegetables with the rest of the ingredients and let rest in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.
Remove from fridge and form into 5-ounce patties. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat oil in a fryer or deep cast-iron pot and fry until dark brown on outside. Place patties on a sheet pan and cook for an additional five minutes or so in a 300-degree oven.
Serve on brioche bun with cucumber raita, which is a yogurt and cucumber sauce similar to tzatziki, pickled radish and tamarind sauce.
